Publishing | What does it mean to be an imprint of a larger publisher? For those who are interested in how the sausages are made, Gina Gagliano explains the relationship between First Second Books and parent company Macmillan. [First Second Books]

Creators | Daniel Clowes talks with Wired about the traveling museum retrospective “Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes” and his aversion to going digital: ““Digital seems like such a step back from a printed book. For me, the whole process involves envisioning this book in my head as I’m working. That is what I’m trying to create. That’s the work of art. That’s the sculpture I’m chipping away at, and when I’m finally done, I will arrive at that perfect 3-D object. The iPad version would be like a picture of the book, which doesn’t hold any interest at all for me. Even if I only had 10 readers, I’d rather do the book for them than for a million readers online.” [Underwire]

Creators | Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick talks about the latest incarnation of Carol Danvers, as Captain Marvel (DeConnick describes her as “Carol Danvers as Chuck Yeager”), and her new look: “There was one point when I was trying to figure out if we were going to make a ‘thing’ of the new costume and I was looking for an in-story reason and I happened to be writing a funeral scene and I remember thinking that I would never in a hundred years wear a black swimsuit and thigh boots to a funeral, unless it was a funeral for, like, a circus performer or something.” [GeekMom]

Creators | Here’s a coup: Three first-time comics writers have managed to get artist Spain Rodriguez to illustrate their graphic novel. The book is a modern-day retelling of Don Quixote, and they plan to fund it via Kickstarter. [Kansas City InfoZine]

Batman: Death By Design

Comics | “It’s true that no comic book character is more architectural than Batman (with the possible exception of personal favorite Transmetropolitan),” says Matt Chaban in a brief look at Chip Kidd’s upcoming Batman: Death By Design. [New York Observer]

History | Larry Cruz looks at Thimble Theatre before and after the introduction of Popeye. [The Webcomic Overlook]

Hype | GalleyCat got a press release in the form of a comic strip, and they have posted it for the world to see—which, of course, is the point. It actually is a good example of how the comics medium allows information to be presented efficiently, as it’s shorter and more readable than most press releases. [GalleyCat]

GeorgeC

Matt — Really? You’re more concerned about one little mistake on the page than the nonsense coming out of some creators’ mouths???

Dan Clowes — Honestly, I think he’s more than a bit full of himself… He also is being ridiculous about numbers of readers. Sorry, Dan, but if the future is digital, that’s what you have to adapt to like it or not if you want to keep doing the work you like and get paid for it. Also, the new technology is a lot more flexible than he gives credit for but of course he hasn’t bothered to do much research there, period. Right now, nobody has to worry about a total drop in hardcopy books but every piece of physical entertainment you used to have to buy a hardcopy of is gradually being eaten away by digital delivery. Granted, the fact of the matter is that sales on most things are far down AND digital is NOT making up for the losses in sales. It never will since the digital medium has lower production costs and doesn’t eat up the shelf and shipping space (re: fuel costs) physical media does! Digital media cannot be priced the same as physical media and expect to sell as such.
Don’t worry, Mr. Clowes… You’ll still be able to print your books as long as you meet the minimum number of orders your book publisher wants — until they decide it’s not worth their time and money to do so because digital is cheaper… then we can hear you bitch again about the facts of life.
I imagine collected, hardcopy editions of stories WILL still be done in the future — look at all the webcomics that get collected and printed(!) — but the dinosaurs will be bitching about the fact that they have to adapt to new realities… and pay out of their own pockets to keep their books in print.

Kelly Sue DeConnick — I’m sure she’s a lovely lady but, I’m sorry, this new Captain Marvel comic is NOT going to last much past a year, if that, tops. There aren’t many people who really want to read the adventures of Carol Danvers on a monthly basis — and I thought that was proven by the LAST Ms. MARVEL series. Also, like it or not, the costume matters, and many of us hate the new outfit and haircut. The blue/lightning symbol outfit is both a classic design and a hell of a lot sexier, too.
I have a feeling Carol Danvers will be back in the old suit and (possibly) old ID within a year or two.
Captain Marvel is a bit of a cursed name… It’s really only worked twice in past. First, as the original Fawcett character of the 1940s and 1950s; secondly, during the much-heralded (but not big smash-hit) Jim Starlin run of the 1970s on Marvel’s character. There were concepts and ideas that happened to catch fire back then. Do they work today? Probably not so much but it never seems to bother DC or Marvel that they continue to make things worse with all these godawful revamps of the classics…